Home : Poker News : Kiat Lee Doubles His Triton Poker Title Count With High-Stakes Turbo Victory In Montenegro

Kiat Lee Doubles His Triton Poker Title Count With High-Stakes Turbo Victory In Montenegro

Malaysian High Roller Sprints Through 71-Entry Field In The $30,000 Buy-In To Earn $586,000

by Tim Fiorvanti | Published: May 20, 2025 | E-mail Author


Kiat Lee finished in second place in his first-ever Triton Poker event, in Cyprus in 2022. After four more runner-up finishes, Lee finally broke through to capture his first trident with his 33rd cash on the tour. That win came in the final event of the 2025 Triton Poker Jeju festival in March of 2025.

After that triumph, it only took five more cashes for Lee to secure his second Triton title.

On May 18, Lee took down event no. 7 at the Triton Poker Montenegro festival, a $30,000 no-limit hold’em turbo eight-max event to earn the top prize of $586,000. In this one-day tournament, the Malaysian pro outlasted a field of 71 entrants and claimed the largest share of a $2,130,000 prize pool as well as 588 Card Player Player of the Year points.

In total, Kiat Lee has racked up $12,373,782 in tournament earnings in Triton events, making up the vast majority of his $14,697,155 in total live tournament results. Lee’s 38 career Triton cashes puts him 10th overall on the tour’s all-time list, tied with poker triple crown winner Mike Watson.

Lee defeated DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang heads-up to secure his second latest title. Tang, who is making his Triton debut in Montenegro, nearly turned his first-ever cash on the tour into a victory – instead settling for a runner-up in identical fashion to Lee’s first showing on this prestigious high-stakes tour.

As could be expected in a turbo format, the final table was a blitz to a finish. Lee started nine-handed play with the chip lead and strengthened that position when he knocked out four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and double Triton champ Adrian Mateos in ninth place, as Lee’s ADiamond SuitQSpade Suit held off Mateos’ ASpade SuitJSpade Suit. Lee then picked off the last of Alexander Zubov’s chips when AClub Suit4Heart Suit sucked out on the short-stacked Zubov’s ADiamond SuitKSpade Suit to send him out in fifth.

From there, Lee blitzed through his remaining three challengers. QHeart SuitJDiamond Suit bested Thomas Santerne’s AHeart Suit3Heart Suit, and pocket queens held off three-time Triton winner Punnat Punsri’s JSpade Suit7Spade Suit. Then, on the final hand of the tournament, Lee’s JDiamond Suit10Spade Suit beat Tang’s 9Diamond Suit7Club Suit.

With his second live tournament victory of 2025, both Triton events, Lee now sits in 63rd place overall in the 2025 POY race standings presented by Coin Poker. Punsri earned $272,000 and 392 points for finishing in third place, which moved him up to 52nd on the POY leaderboard. Fourth-place finisher Santerne (now 93rd) and seventh-place finisher Aleksejs Ponakovs (now 92nd) both cracked the top 100 with their results in this tournament.

Final Table Results

Place Player Earnings POY Points
1 Kiat Lee $586,000 588
2 Stanley Tang $416,000 490
3 Punnat Punsri $272,000 392
4 Thomas Santerne $210,000 294
5 Alexander Zubov $166,000 245
6 Michael Soyza $130,000 196
7 Aleksejs Ponakovs $103,000 147
8 Maksim Shomikau $80,000 98

 

Photo credits: Triton Poker.

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